ICM FIAT CR.42 in Belgian service.

[quang]

Anyone who’s a Beatles fan will be familiar with the term ‘dark horse’ attributed to George Harrison whose talents blossomed late in the Beatles’ career with the Abbey Road album.
A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. (Wikipedia)

 

In our hobby, the ICM FIAT CR.42 is just that. Released without much fanfare two years ago, the Falco was obscured by its ‘rival’ the Gladiator but nevertheless became a modellers’ favourite in internet forums especially among beginners at large scale biplanes.

Now hot on the heels of our friends @Fanes @spook @Dpgsbody55 and some others, here’s my take on the FIAT biplane with a nod to my host country: Belgium. 
 

In a nutshell, in September 1939, Belgian authorities ordered 34 CR.42 from FIAT. On March 6, the first of 30 planes arrived in Belgium still carrying Italian camouflage, to be assembled. They were assigned the serials R-1 to R-30 and were attributed to the IIe Groupe de Chasse between escadrilles 3/II and 4/II whose pilots began to convert in their new mounts.

Two months later, on May 10 the Wermacht launched its attack against the Low Countries and Belgium. The nearly obsolete Fiat were pitted against the vastly superior Bf 109E. All the CR.42 of the 4/II were destroyed on the ground.

The remaining squadron retreated to France and surrendered to the Wermacht after Belgium asked Germany for an armistice on June 28 1940.

Thus ended the brief life of the Belgian FIAT. It was almost 4 months after the Belgians took delivery of their first Fiat.

 

For a detailed account of the short combat life of the CR.42 in Belgian service, click HERE

For the inventory photos of the CR.42 in Belgian service, check out the excellent Daniel Brackx’s  BELGIAN WINGS.

 

The familiar ICM kit

 

A modern colorized version 

 

Since there are already a few detailed articles about the building of this kit, I ‘d like to concentrate on the camouflage and the painting of this model.

 

There are quite a few period photographs of the Belgian FIAT as one can discover on the BELGIAN WINGS site. Nevertheless they all are in monochrome.
There are a few controversies about the colours of the camouflage. Sure we all know they came in ‘Italian camouflage’ but which one?  as it’s a VERY complex subject as we will find out. Hopefully some connoisseurs will chime in.

Thank you for your commentaries and your invaluable input. 

Until next time,

Cheers,

Quang

[thierry laurent]

Hi Quang.

 

I will have a look in my Italian books! 

[Uncarina]

Go Quang Go! I have this kit as well to build as a spatless Italian aircraft, and I am taking notes.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Rob Owens]

Dutch Decal 32017 has Belgian Gladiator G19 in green over aluminum and its contemporary CR 42’s R1, R5, and R17 in “. . .Verde Mimetico 3 and Marrone Mimetico 2 over Giallo Mimetico 3 with Grigio Mimetico on lower surfaces.” Have been saving this sheet to do WWI Belgian 1/32 Nieuport & Spad to go with the Gladiator & CR 42 in the same unit markings.

Edited September 10, 2022 by Rob Owens
Clarification

[Dpgsbody55]

Looking forward to see how your build progresses.  This is one of my favourite kits.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[quang]

Thank you everyone for your input.

 

@Rob Owens I got the Dutch Decal sheet when it was included in the Special Edition ICM Gladiator released in Belgium. The decals are very well-printed but I decided not to use them and rather use them as templates for airbrush stencils.
Likewise I ordered the Eduard detail sheet for the cockpit but couldn’t wait for it to arrive so I started the build without it.
In the end, this will be an all-round old-school project without any after-market stuff. No brass etching, 3D prints or Silhouette plotter. Bring out the plasticard and the stencil knife. We’re back in the eighties! 
 

Nothing else can be said that it has been already done about it but let me add that this ICM kit is to me an exemple of the perfect kit. Interesting subject, good accuracy, perfectly moulded, great design, sensible pricing.

 

So let’s start the fire. 
While waiting for the Eduard cockpit etchings to arrive, I started with the sub-assemblies, namely the beautifully executed engine.

The assembly was straightforward according to the exacting instructions.

 

 

Some extra wiring is added, especially the very noticeable oil lines on the front.

Note that there are 4 lines on the left, 3 lines on the right and one line in the middle.

 

The crankcase was painted indifferently in light grey, grey-green, tan, silver…. 
Name plate made from wine bottle foil, painted black and scratched for the lettering.

 

 

The kit spinner is a wee short compared with the real thing.

 

1,5 mm-thick plasticard sliver added

 

…shaped. Wire retaining ring added.

WWII Italian propellers were factory-painted with a delightful nile-green paint called ‘celeste’.

 

The works 

 

That’s it for now.

Thank you for your commentaries and input.

Until next time: the pit!

Cheers,

Quang

 

[Rockie Yarwood]

Nice start, Quang! Your engine and prop look great.

[mozart]

I got your number Quang, you're only building this biplane since there's only a piddling little bit of rigging to do!!    Great start on the engine though!! 

[quang]

I agree with you that the rigging is minimal but then, there’s the mottling, Max! 

[mozart]

True....but you're a painter so no problem 

[quang]

As usual with a new kit, I ordered the corresponding Eduard add-on for the cockpit but I couldn’t wait for it to arrive.
So I decide to proceed with what ever ICM includes in their kit. Which revealed to be surprisingly complete and accurate when compared with the info provided on the web.

 

Excerpts from the pilot’s manual:

Instruments lay-out

 

From the preserved plane in the Vigna di Valle museum:

 

The ICM cockpit is a complicated affair but the assembly was quite straightforward if one study and follow the instructions.

Interior on these early WWII Italian planes were generally a light to medium grey. I added a greenish RLM02 tinge.

You’d think the metal seat is rather spartan (wrong country, I know)…

… but wait until you see the metal chains on the pilot’s harness.

The designs may vary but the Gladiator (the movie) influence is obvious.

 

I made mine with laminated Milliput. The metalwork is thin wire and the buckles from the spare box.

The San Giorgio typo B was the standard gunsight of the Regia Aeronautica fighters.

 

I found the kit version a bit undersized. Furthermore I lost it to the carpet monster.

So I decided to build one from scratch.

Note the rubber bump (yellow), the rhodoid reflector (red) and the stock compass (green).

 

Some final details are added before the cockpit is glued in the fuselage:

gun unlock handles (green), flight chart(red), fire extinguisher (blue), air bottle (yellow).

The cockpit in situ. The left part of the instrument panel is glue on the fuselage half (red).

 

Fuselage closed. With some care, the fit is very good. A plasticard ledge is added to each side of the fuselage top…

… to help secure the top cowling panel. Notice the clean, tidy join. 

 

That’s it, folks.

Next time we’ll deal with the wings and final assembly.

Your comments and input are welcome.

Cheers,

Quang

Edited September 11, 2022 by quang

[mozart]

Lost in admiration Quang, both for the kit and your peerless modelling skills. There I was thinking about the classic elegant Italian design of the cockpit, the instrument panels etc., and then saw the Romanesque chains on the seat belts!! 

[quang]

You said romanesque? 

Edited September 11, 2022 by quang

[Fanes]

Top notch work on the cockpit Quang.
I especially like, what you did with the seatbelt-harness-thingy!

Looking very much forward to the painting stage

[scvrobeson]

Great start on a great kit of a great plane. Looking forward to seeing the rest

 

 

 

Mat